ABSTRACT

Introduction: The treatment of tumors is one of the most difficult problems in the medical field at present. Patients often use a comprehensive therapy that combines surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has prominent potential for eradicating various cancers. Chlorin-based photosensitizers (PSs), as one of the most utilized photosensitizers, have many advantages over conventional photosensitizers; however, a successful chlorin-based PDT needs multi-functional nano-carriers for selective photosensitizer delivery. The number of researches about nanoparticles designed for improved chlorin-based PSs is increasing in the current era. In this article, we give a brief review focused on the recent research progress in design of chlorin-based nanoparticles for the treatment of malignant tumors with photodynamic therapy.

Areas covered: This review focuses on the current nanoparticle platforms for PDT, and describes different strategies to achieve controllable PDT by chlorin-nano-delivery systems. The challenges and prospects of PDT in clinical applications are also discussed.

Expert opinions: The requirement for PDT to eradicate cancers has increased exponentially in recent years. The major clinically used photosensitizers are hydrophobic. The main obstacles in effective delivery of PSs are associated with this intrinsic nature. The design of nano-delivery systems to load PSs is pivotal for PSs’ widespread use.

摘要

介绍：肿瘤的治疗是目前医学领域最棘手的问题之一。患者通常采用手术、放疗和化疗相结合的综合疗法。光动力疗法 (PDT) 在根除各种癌症方面具有突出的潜力。氯基光敏剂（PSs）作为最常用的光敏剂之一，与传统光敏剂相比具有许多优点；然而，成功的基于二氢卟酚的 PDT 需要多功能纳米载体来选择性地递送光敏剂。在当前时代，关于为改进的二氢卟酚基 PSs 设计的纳米粒子的研究数量正在增加。在本文中，我们简要回顾了近期在设计用于光动力疗法治疗恶性肿瘤的二氢卟酚纳米粒子的研究进展。

涵盖的领域：本综述重点关注当前用于 PDT 的纳米粒子平台，并描述了通过二氢卟酚纳米递送系统实现可控 PDT 的不同策略。还讨论了 PDT 在临床应用中的挑战和前景。

专家意见：近年来，对 PDT 根除癌症的需求呈指数增长。临床上使用的主要光敏剂是疏水性的。有效交付 PS 的主要障碍与这种内在性质有关。装载 PS 的纳米输送系统的设计对于 PS 的广泛使用至关重要。